How Lekki Gardens’ Building Collapse Killed 34 Persons
survivors and seven dead at 2.27pm before it again rose to 10 casualties at 3.11pm. At about 3.40pm, the death toll had risen to 11 persons and at 4pm, the body of a middle-aged woman, clutching her infant son was brought out amidst tears by onlookers. At exactly 4.30pm, two other persons were brought out alive but before they could be taken to the standby ambulance, they breathed their last.
In an interview with THISDAY, NEMA South-west spokesperson, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye said rescue operations would continue the next day until they get to the ground floor.
He said, “Those rescued alive were first treated by medical personnel attached to the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) before they were moved to Lagos General Hospital. The bodies of the dead ones have since been deposited at the mortuary.”
On those still trapped underneath the building, the leader of the Hausa community in the area, Babangida Bello, said they have been able to identify those that were still trapped. He said, “I was informed that the building my brother works in collapsed and so I rushed to the scene. We have been able to identify the names and number of those that were trapped under the rubbles. They are Umar, Ado, Alu, Muhammed, Jemilu, Sabiu and Saminu.”
While the injured persons were taken to the Lagos State General Hospital, where they are currently being treated, policemen from Ajah were deployed to secure lives and properties at the site. Also at the scene was the Commander, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Tunde Disu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, who alongside his men provided security. They were assisted by other security personnel drawn from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority ( LASTMA) and the neighbourhood watch.
On Wednesday, the death toll had risen to 34, owing to the recovery of 17 more bodies that day. As at Tuesday night, the total official figure of casualties and survivors stood at 18 and 13, respectively but the casualty rate steadily climbed to 31 as at 4.56pm. At the site, emergency responders on ground were officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), their state counterpart at the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), as well as fire service officials from both the federal state services.
Speaking to THISDAY, the South-west Zonal Spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said the additional 17 corpses were recovered between 7am and 5pm.
He said, “It has been a team effort down there. We have all been working since Tuesday morning to get all those trapped out. It was a feeling of elation when some of them were brought out alive from under the debris yesterday. We have not given up hope and we will not stop until we reach ground zero to make sure everyone under the rubble is brought out.”
Also, LASEMA’s General Manager, Michael Akindele said the deceased persons were taken away by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) to the mortuary. He said rescue operation would continue with the three excavators deployed, as well as other search and rescue equipment. This is just as health workers from the Lagos State Ministry of Health carried away the bodies of the deceased to the morgue, where they will kept until they are identified by relations.
That same Wednesday, rescue operations ended at 7:20pm with a joint press conference from LASEMA, NEMA, Police and NSCDC. LASEMA’s boss, Michael Akindele said that 95 per cent of the victims are foreigners, adding that their greatest challenge was in calming their relatives down on Tuesday.
He said: “As we speak now, the time is 7:20pm. Search and rescue exercise on the collapsed five-storey building of 12 blocks of flats is hereby concluded and the physical record we have is 13 lives rescued and 34 dead bodies. We had full complement of all responders on board to ensure smooth response and recovery. It is a sad story, but notwithstanding, our job as responders is to ensure that we mitigate such that all necessary actions and sanctions shall be taking by the state government.
“The greatest challenge we had was on Tuesday and it was because the families of the deceased and those rescued, 95 percent of them are aliens. We have people from the north and east, but majorly, those that we saw in this complex were not Nigerians. Some are Togolese and others Beninnois. Hence, the understanding and the emotions carried over, as if they can do better, which they will not do. The state government will address the public on the situation of the foreign victims. Today (Wednesday), we had a very smooth operation. I must commend the Nigeria Police, RRS, Civil Defence, Red Cross, NEMA, LASAMBUS and all others for a diligent job.”
In his remark, NEMA’s boss, Yakubu Sulaimon said rescuers were initially denied access on Tuesday morning but security operatives brought the situation under control. We do not have a list of occupants in the building. The state government will take appropriate action on the other buildings marked.”
In a preliminary report, the Lagos State Government said it had duly served the owners of the building a contravention notice for exceeding the approved floors. Thus, the state government asked the owner of the building, Messrs. Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited, to suspend the construction of Lekki Gardens and report to the State Police Command within 24 hours.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, who disclosed this in a statement said, “It has been discovered that in a brazen act of defiance and impunity the owner of the building criminally unsealed the property and continued building beyond the approved floors until the unfortunate incident of Tuesday which has led to loss of lives.”
He said the state government would no longer tolerate the action of unscrupulous owners and builders who challenge its supervisory control thereby endangering the lives of Lagosian, adding that the state government “has consequently directed the suspension of work at the site and ordered the Lagos State Police Command to cordon it off as it is now a crime scene.
“The state government directed integrity tests to be carried out on every other construction project which has or is currently being handled by Messrs Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited in the interest of public safety.”
Meanwhile, the Eti-Osa Local Government Area Executive Secretary, Hon. Alaba Ajayi and the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Government on Transportation, Prince Olarenwaju Elegushi said all machinery of government were deployed to fast-track the rescue work.
Also, the Lagos State Police had on Wednesday arrested the major contractor in charge of the said structure. The contractor who was identified as Taiwo Odofin was arrested based on the confessions and statement of the construction workers, who testified that they alerted him about the structural defects but he chose to simply double pile the beams.
When contacted, the Lagos State Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmus, a Superintendent of Police confirmed the arrest. She said, “Yes we have arrested the major contractor. He was arrested and taken into custody. The owner of the building ran away but we are also on his trail.”
The MD reported to the police, following the directive by the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
Although details of his arrest were still sketchy, THISDAY gathered that he was arrested on Thursday evening. SON, LASBCA, Safety Commission Acts Meanwhile, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) stormed the site to collect material samples for testing. THISDAY gathered that the Director, Inspection and Compliance, Mr. Bebe Obayi, who led a team from the organisation ordered that some of the building materials be collected for inspection. He said, “They will be subjected to material testing. This is to ascertain if the engineers adhered to the proper building standards.”
Also speaking on the cause of the collapse, the General Manager Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Mr. Shola Adeigbe blamed it on structural defect. He said, “I learned that there was an approval for the building from the district officer. The materials used for the construction was poor materials. It was a foundation failure because it sank before collapsing. We will subject the entire building to structural stability test. The only thing for us is to ensure that they construct with quality materials.”
After LASBCA’s Adeigbe left, the agency and the Lagos State Safety Commission marked all other uncompleted buildings round the collapsed structure. The agency did not just mark the building, they pasted a ‘stop work’ notice, as well as demolition notice on two other five-storey uncompleted buildings. The notice by the safety commission read, “Sealed. This premises has been sealed following the breach of safety law. This seal must not be broken.”